Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

It took 19 innings over the course of 27 hours for defending 5A state softball champion and perennial powerhouse Vail Cienega to finally shake the extremely tenacious upstarts from Centennial.

The Coyotes forced Friday's winner-take-all game with a 2-1 victory Thursday night at Rose Mofford Sports Complex in Phoenix. The same cast was back in the same place a day later and produced an epic nearly double in length with the scoreline reversed.

Centennial junior Sydnie Sahhar ended up pitching two complete games and a total of 19 innings each over the two days, and Cienega sophomore Mariah Lopez was not far behind  yielding to freshman Jacie Hammergren before re-entering in extra innings Friday.

The berth in this year's 5A softball final was not decided until the bottom of the 12th inning. Bobcats junior Kenzie Carson hit a leadoff single, sophomore Blaise Biringer added a one-out single and senior Kaitlyn Anderson drove in the winning run on a base hit back up the middle.

"We faced (Sahhar) in Tucson but we faced her late in the game and she was tough on us down there. She's a great pitcher," Cienega coach Eric Tatham said. "I've been around Mariah for two years and last year she was a surprise. She doesn't get too emotional and is a competitor."

#3 seed Cienega (28-6) moves on to a suburban Tucson skirmish in the finals against #8 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge (27-9) Monday night. Those two schools have evenly split the state titles in Arizona's second biggest division during the last four years, but never have squared off for the trophy.

After a few days to lick its wounds, #6 Centennial (22-10-1) can take in this playoff run and realize that it came closer than anyone dreamed to taking down a dynasty.

Cienega gave the Coyotes their first loss of the playoffs by a 7-1 margin in Vail on May 1. Yet Centennial coach Randy Kaye had an inkling the rematches would be different.

"After we lost (at Cienega) we responded by getting after one of the better pitchers (from Poston Butte. I saw that they started to believe in themselves and believe in each other. They started to get closer and want to play for each other." Kaye said. "I knew we had some fight in us and it wasn't going to be an easy exit for us."

Freshman Breezy Hayward gave the Bobcats a quick lead, driving in Biringer in the bottom of the first.

The game settled into a stalemate. Just as the Coyotes were close to pressing, junior Dren Meginnis belted a solo home run in the top of the fifth.

"When you start getting down to nine or six outs left in the game, you start to tense up and press a little. By her hitting that home run, it gave us new life, and I think it loosened us up a bit," Kaye said.

Then the real drama set in. Centennial went quietly in the seventh and Cienega nearly ended the night without getting a hit.

Freshman Emily Rodriguez walked. Carson bunted her over and reached first base on an error. Sahhar recovered, inducing three pop ups in succession to send it to extra innings.

Freshman Meghan Golden had good contact in the eight but the Bobcats tracked down her deep fly ball.

Senior Abby Doughty led off the Bobcats' half of the inning with a base hit to center. Hayward moved her over and drew howls of protest when she was called safe at first.

But senior third baseman Natalie Del Ponte cut down the rally by turning a rare 5-3 double play. She snagged a ground ball, stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond to junior Hailey Galvez - who nearly did a complete split to catch the ball in time and keep a toe on first.

"(Hailey) is ones the best defensive first baseman I've ever had and we've had some good ones (here and with the Firecrackers)," Kaye said.

The ninth inning passed quickly and quietly. With one out in the 10th, junior Mackenzie Celaya advanced to first on a dropped pop up. She was stranded there.

Centennial stayed alive after Anderson's one-out single to right in the 10th. Doughty hit a line drive to Meginnis, who threw out Anderson at first for another double play.

However, nearly every inning the Coyotes extended the game with a defensive gem, Cienega responded by mowing down the Centennial batters with little resistance.

"I think our defense really helped us. Every single time (in extra innings) we were making some plays and the girls were building on that with each inning," Tatham said.

Sydnie Sahhar pitches against Cienega May 11.

The Coyotes' best chance in extra innings came, and went, in the 11th. Lopez hit Golden with a pitch and a pinch runner came in.

With one out, Galvez laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt but the pinch runner got greedy and tried for third base. She was easily thrown out to end the inning.

Hayward hit another single to start the bottom of the 11th, junior Peyton McLauglin bunted her over and junior Marisa Olivera's grounder advanced Hayward to third. Once again Sahhar induced a groundout to end the threat.

Senior Emily White stepped in with one out in the 12th and reached first base safely on a soft slap hit to shallow left. Senior Caitlyn Swisher laid down a sacrifice bunt, but White was stranded at second afterward.

Few pitchers and defenses can withstand the relentless Bobcats lineup for 11 straight innings.

"The thing that scared me was we kept getting in trouble and we'd double them off somehow," Kaye said. "All I was hoping for was we could get through (the 12th) inning and get back to the top of our lineup. I said, 'That's probably our last shot.'"

This game for the ages was the final high school game for Del Ponte, Alanna Moran, Swisher and White. They arrived in 2015 and won a playoff game as freshman - though these days it would be called a play-in game.

Yet the program was far different then, having slipped from the years of state title contention that ended after 2012. The Class of 2018 played a key role in restoring Centennial softball to the state's elite.

"Emily White was a kid that when I got here last year I saw that she had some speed and talent. She was a great kid to coach and she's gotten so much better in right field. I'm excited to see what she does at Paradise Valley," Kaye said. "Caitlyn Swisher I've known for a while through the club scene and she has a high IQ for the game. Natalie Del Ponte is a Division I kid with a lot of passion for the game.

"I told the seniors right now that they should be proud of it. When we got here (in 2017) we were able to earn your trust. They should proud of what they've done."

Once that group got the ball rolling a talented 2019 class - Sahhar, Meginns, Galvez and Celaya - came on board.

Kaye, the director and head coach of the Arizona branch of the well known Firecrackers club, was named head coach before the 2017 season. After losing in the first round last year, the Coyotes made a monumental jump to third place in 5A.

And after the events of the last few nights, returning players believe they belong on the state title short list going forward.

"I'm excited about the future. Who knows who's coming in," Kaye said. "Hopefully (the returning players) let that burn a little bit. I told them, 'Unfortunately in a 12-inning game there has to be a loser. It was us this year. Let's just make sure we're not on that end next year.'"

Centennial senior Caitlyn Swisher prepares to swing at a pitch May 11 against Vail Cienega in an elimination game to determine one participant in the 5A state softball title game. [Stacie Sahhar/For West Valley Preps][/caption]